


A drink to his past

by Weresilver-In-Space (JuhllyMBS)



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek (Comics), Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-08-23 20:57:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16626317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuhllyMBS/pseuds/Weresilver-In-Space
Summary: After a few days of an oddly quiet Bones, Jim decides to go talk to him once they reach a starbase, only to find him thinking about his life before Starfleet with a drink.





	A drink to his past

Jim walked into the observation deck unaccompanied. The movement and chatter drowned out whatever sound he could have made at the entrance, but a gentle tap on his shoulder drew his attention.

The relatively short waiter walked past him with hurried steps, balancing three glasses on his tray. Following the man with his eyes, he finally found who he was looking for.

Leonard was sitting alone by the window and only turned his gaze to the interior when the waiter approached. The man left two of the three glasses before quickly moving to another table.

“There you are!” Before he could take a sip of any of his drinks, the very familiar voice came through the ambient noise of the starbase’s top floor, “I was looking for you, Bones.”

“What can I do for you, captain?” He took a sip of the blue ale in one of the glasses. “Are we leaving yet?”

“Not yet,” Jim couldn’t take his eyes off of the unusually quiet doctor - off of his friend - as he didn’t turn to face him at any point. “Bones, what happened?”

"I'm sorry?"

"You've been quiet for a few days," he sat down and took the other glass of ale in his hands after Leonard finally turned to him, "And that's really not like you."

"We all have introspective moments."

The doctor sighed. Jim really did not take his eyes off of him, almost as if he was afraid he would run off again. He felt like he should, although the company was appreciated, especially when it could be enjoyed in silence.

He turned his attention to space once again. Starbase 537 was at a safe distance from the sun of the system It monitored and had a good look of the planets in it. It still was a disaster waiting to happen, but he couldn’t deny that the view was _beautiful_.

“She would’ve really liked this,” he mumbled, barely loud enough for Jim to hear.

"What? Who?"

_Crap. Had he really said that out loud?_ He let out a sigh and finished his drink.

Jim was looking at him with curiosity, but he knew better than to pry it from Leonard. Hell, he barely talked about anything other than the crew's medical condition or his complaints about space.

The doctor was merely looking down at his empty glass, weighing whether he should simply talk to his captain or not. He inhaled, ready to speak, but stopped himself on a couple of occasions before simply rubbing his eyes.

"Bones–"

"She was a patient," his voice was low, and his eyes were turned to space once again, "She wanted to be a Starfleet captain."

Jim's heart weighed. He had heard about Leonard's job before Starfleet, but no one knew exactly what he did before taking to space.

"She was nine," he continued in spite of his voice breaking up, "And was always talking about space."

_A pediatrician, of course._ It would explain why he had been so good at dealing with children… Or the other way around. Regardless of which was the cause and which was the consequence, Leonard seemed upset.

“Leonard,” Jim spoke softly, “I'm sure you did all you could…”

He turned to Jim at the mention of his name. The bright blue eyes of his captain showed a level of concern he hadn't seen in a while, but he couldn't help the anger building up inside of him.

“In a pig's eye, I did!” The doctor exclaimed, to Jim's surprise. He took the glass of ale from him and drank it all in one go. “It's been five years, and I couldn't believe _that_ for one second of them.”

A moment of awkward silence between them followed before Jim sighed and started talking again.

“I'm sorry I–”

“You didn't exactly ask anything, so don't apologize,” Leonard took a deep breath, regaining whatever composure he had left. “I'm just running my mouth like a damn idiot after drinking too much.”

He knew Leonard, and he knew the look on his face. A tired and glazed look that he only saw when he was stressed by the academy. Jim could tell he had been there for a few hours, maybe the entire time the crew had been at the base.

“Is that why you’re out here?” Jim spoke calmly, although part of him already regretted talking again. “Out of guilt?” Leonard looked at him somewhat appalled by his comment, and Jim couldn’t help but smirk at the doctor’s reaction. “I know you, and I want you to _talk to me_ , Bones.”

“Dammit, Jim,” he wanted to say something, but all he could do was chuckle. “Maybe it was, at some point,” he shrugged, “Hell if I know now.”

“Too drunk to remember?” Jim teased with a smile. “Now _that's_ unusual.”

“Good thing it's all on you tonight.”

Jim merely mouthed a confused _‘what’_ as Leonard let out a brief, heartier laugh. His expression returned to being a more serious one shortly after, but that was more than enough to put the captain at ease again.

“As I keep reminding you,” Leonard leaned back against his chair, “I’m just a country doctor, and that’s what I’m here for. Y’all would be dead without me!”

There it was. The southern accent Leonard learned to hide years ago that still emerged after a few drinks.

“Yeah,” Jim couldn’t help but smile, confident that the doctor was too inebriated to notice it, “Yeah, we would.”

“I'm glad you recognize it.” Leonard sighed after a brief pause, “I'm not some space explorer like you guys. With every new way you find to get sick, I have to find a way to deal with it.”

“And I'm guessing we keep you busy?”

Leonard's puffed breath was a clear _‘you have no idea’_. He called a waiter, with a somewhat forced smile, and ordered something he could barely pronounce the name of.

“Anyway,” he continued as soon as the waiter left, “I guess I _really_ am out here to try and rid the universe of diseases.”

“And run out of a job?” Jim chuckled.

“Jimmy, it’s every doctor’s dream to run out of a job because there’re no injuries or diseases left,” he noted with open arms. “We could all just retire on a beach somewhere, or…” He paused, thinking, “Or… I dunno, some countryside.”

“That's very hopeful of you,” Jim chuckled. The same waiter that Jim had followed walked to the table and left more two glasses, this time with a violet liquid in it. “What did you even order, Bones?”

The doctor merely shrugged, not exactly sure himself, and drank from one of the glasses. The other was the captain’s, of course, as the sour taste of the liquor would seriously burn his throat if he drank another one. Jim quietly accepted, simply glad that his doctor seemed to feel better already.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a rather random idea that I had after re-reading Bones' issue in Star Trek Ongoing vol. 5. That comic volume was mostly full of feels. But I think that if someone ends up squeezing something out of Bones, it's Kirk, but I wouldn't call this a McKirk fic, to be honest (even though the two are just pretty darn cute together).


End file.
